If you missed the last one…
The 1980s offered some new wrinkles to old dragons. One of these was the new paper quality of independent comics. Artwork could be colored with more detailed processes. Epic Illustrated was a magazine made for such artwork. Not surprising, several dragons appear there. We also have some 1970s comics that continued into the 1980s, and finally got around to dragons. Conan and The Warlord fought any number of serpent monsters and dinosaurs. Here we get real dragons.
Last time I mentioned Smaug from The Hobbit as an exemplar of a classic dragon. I could have chosen another Tolkien favorite of mine, Chrysophlax from “Farmer Giles of Ham” (1937). That old worm is not the titanic beast that Smaug is but a crafty and interesting character. In some ways more interesting than Smaug, who is like an avalanche or tornado. Chrysophlax becomes Giles’s partner in crime against the king who gets a deserved trouncing. Pauline Baynes’s version of the dragon has the perfect blend of dragony-ness and charm. Many of us read this tale in the 1980s (some did earlier) as our love of Tolkien grew.
“Siegfried and the Dragon” (Epic Illustrated #2, Summer 1980) was written and drawn by P. Craig Russell. Russell worked on a number of similar pieces in the independent comics in the 1970s but it was this appearance in 1980 that brought in dragons. He would go on to do a massive collection of all these pieces in The Ring of the Nibelung with Dark Horse in the 2000s.
“Dragonslayer” (Marvel Super Special #20, June 1981) was adapted by Gerry Conway from a script by Hal Barwood and Matthew Robbins. Probably the 1980s best dragon movie. The special effects still hold up better than most, which is more than you can say for many films from 1981. The comic adaptation is accurate to the film if not dynamic. We could have seen more of Vermithrax, though I understand the limitations of space in compressing a film into sixty pages.
“The Barbarian as Dragon Slayer” (King Conan #7, September 1981) was written by Danny Fingeroth. Savage Sword of Conan regularly featured “pin-ups” but here are two from a color Marvel comic. Franc Reyes didn’t get to do enough Conan.
“Red Sonja in Big Trouble” (King Conan #7, September 1981) was written by Danny Fingeroth. Ernie Colon was the co-creator on DC’s Arak, Son of Thunder later in 1984. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t do the entire run.
“Dragonsword”in The Warlord #51-54 (November 1981–February 1982) was written by Paul Levitz (who gave us Stalker back in the 1970s). This back-up feature to The Warlord never got its own series. The George becomes the dragon! For more on this back-up series, go here.
“The Dragonmaster of Klarn” (Epic Illustrated #9, 11-13, December 1981, April-August 1982) was written by Doug Moench. This is a sequel to Warriors of the Shadow Realm (Marvel Super Special #11-13, June-October 1979). Doug Moench started Weirdworld back in the 1970s and continued it into the 1980s. There would be one last sequel in Marvel Fanfare #24-26, January-May 1986. John Buscema will do more dragons in the 1980s. These are the better ones as you will see.
“The Shadow of Alabron” (Imagine#5, August 1983) was written and drawn by Ian Williamson. Dragon Magazine is the most famous RPG magazine of the 1970s and 1980s. But it wasn’t the only one. Imagine also offered some D&D style comics and cartoons. Here’s some dragon adventure with a three-pager in black&white.
“The Age of the Dragon” (Epic Illustrated #21, December 1983) was written and drawn by Charles Vess. After P. Craig Russell, the most famous dragon artist of the 1980s must be Charles Vess. He did this color four-pager in a poetic and largely wordless style familiar from years of similar stuff in Heavy Metal. Vess would go on to do Stardust with Neil Gaiman but my favorite was his three-part mini-series, Ballads.
“Dragonheist” (2000 A. D. #361-366, March 24-April 28, 1984) was written by Pat Mills. The Brits and 2000 AD had been doing over-the-top Science Fiction since 1977. Why not a fantasy series? Slaine (pronounced SLAW-NEE) is a Celtish warrior with some spiky hair. In 1984, a six-parter gave us a heist involving a dragon. Massimo Belardinelli’s dragons are ornate and weird-looking.
“Temple of the Dragon/Blood of the Titan!/Creature From Time’s Dawn” (Conan the Barbarian #165-167, December 1984-February 1985) was written by Michael Fleisher. Art by John Buscema, Armando Gil, Geoff Usherwood and Dave Simons. This three-parter in Conan the Barbarian finally gave us an actual dragon rather than a giant snake or dinosaur. Too bad John Buscema drew him like Pudgy the Pig. It reminds me of the fat dragon from the recent Dungeons & Dragons movie.
“The Maiden and the Dragon” (Alien Worlds # 9, January 1985) was written by Bruce Jones. A poetic game of switching identity that ends in a girl versus dragon battle.
“Dragon Killer!” (Groo the Wanderer #2, April 1985) was written by Sergio Aragonés and Mark Evanier. It was inevitable that Groo should face a dragon someday. We didn’t actually have to wait too long. Only three years. As to be expected with Groo, the beast proves to be something else. For more on Groo and Conan, go here.
“Dragon Slayers For Hire” (Arak, Son of Thunder #48, September 1985) was written by Roy Thomas, Dann Thomas and R. J. M. Lofficier. Arak, Son of Thunder, journeys across the world to reach White Cathay. Of course, there’s a dragon waiting there. Malagigi the wizard takes him out with wizard-fire. Almost at the end of his fifty issue journey, this issue was penciled by the legendary Carmine Infantino.
The Black Dragon #1-6 (May-October 1985) was written by Chris Claremont. After the success of Marada the She-Wolf, this duo did a six-part mini-series featuring a Medieval knight and the spirit dragon that gives him his name.
“The Last Dragon/The Brood” (The Warlord #127-128, March-April 1988) was written by Michael Fleisher. Another 1970s character almost finished (the original run of The Warlord went to issue #133) and finally getting to a real fire-breathing drake. Travis Morgan fought and shot a T. rex on a regular basis but not an actually dragon. Until this two-parter. Dreadnar, Travis’s companion, finishes the job in true barbarian style.
Conclusion
Dragons become quite common in comics after the 1980s. Maybe not so much in the 1990s, when all forms of Sword & Sorcery dimmed. (I know Xena had at least one encounter with a dragon in a Topps comic.) But the new millennium has seen a virtual explosion of dragons and Fantasy in general. One of the truest blessings has been the availability of more European comics that have their fair share. I may do a post on that in future.
The 21st Century was blessed to have the full Lord of the Rings trilogy of films as well as the Harry Potters (especially The Goblet of Fire). Since then The Hobbit was also adapted into a trilogy with Smaug dominating the second and the beginning of the third. Game of Thrones brought dragons to the small screen, even an undead dragon. All these dragons make watching entertaining but offer a new challenge to creators today. How do you use dragons in your storytelling without copying these icons? Well, people have bee doing it for a thousand years ( The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle had a sighting of a dragon in Northumbria in 793) so I guess we’ll find a way. That will be the fun part…
